Founding Account Executive

Vehicle AI; United States; On-site; USD 85,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Vehicle AI seeks an Account Executive to drive full-cycle, seller-builder sales for NEON in the US automotive market. You will create pipeline, run discovery, demo NEON, and structure paid pilots with interest from dealerships and dealer groups.

Collaborating directly with the founder, you will close subscriptions and help establish a repeatable sales motion. You will own the process from first contact to onboarding and retention.

Qualifications

• At least three years of full-cycle B2B sales experience.
• Direct experience selling dealership technology, automotive SaaS, or data products.
• Ability to create pipeline rather than relying on inbound leads.
• History of meeting or exceeding measurable sales targets.
• Strong CRM discipline and commercial judgement.

Responsibilities

• Build and execute named-account plans across phone, email, LinkedIn, referrals, and events.
• Lead discovery focused on operating problems, ownership, and decision criteria.
• Demonstrate NEON using the prospect’s priorities rather than generic features.
• Position NEON as a complement to the dealership’s systems.
• Structure paid pilots with a defined workflow and milestones.
• Own opportunities from first conversation through onboarding and retention.
• Maintain accurate pipeline stages, next actions, and forecasts.
• Provide market feedback to the founder and product team.
• Use evidence carefully; avoid promises of ROI or timing.

Skills

Full-cycle B2B sales

Dealership technology sales

Pipeline development

Sales targets

CRM discipline

Job description

Vehicle AI builds NEON, an operating intelligence and execution layer for automotive dealerships and dealer groups.

Dealerships already have a DMS, CRM, inventory tools, market data, and reporting. The harder problem is turning signals scattered across those systems into timely, accountable action.

NEON identifies material operating exceptions, explains the supporting evidence, prepares the next action, assigns ownership, and tracks what happened. Our initial commercial workflow focuses on inventory and pricing exceptions. Over time, the platform helps dealerships turn more of their operating playbook into controlled digital labor—without replacing their existing systems or taking decisions away from managers.

The opportunity

About Vehicle AI

Vehicle AI builds NEON, an operating intelligence and execution layer for automotive dealerships and dealer groups.

Dealerships already have a DMS, CRM, inventory tools, market data, and reporting. The harder problem is turning signals scattered across those systems into timely, accountable action.

NEON identifies material operating exceptions, explains the supporting evidence, prepares the next action, assigns ownership, and tracks what happened. Our initial commercial workflow focuses on inventory and pricing exceptions. Over time, the platform helps dealerships turn more of their operating playbook into controlled digital labor—without replacing their existing systems or taking decisions away from managers.

The opportunity

We are hiring our first quota-carrying Account Executive.

This is a full-cycle, seller-builder role. You will work directly with the founder to create pipeline, run discovery, demonstrate NEON, structure paid pilots, close subscriptions, and help establish a repeatable sales motion.

You will not inherit a mature inbound engine, a large SDR organization, or a finished enterprise playbook. You will inherit a differentiated product, a defined initial market, curated target-account data, founder support, and the opportunity to influence how Vehicle AI goes to market.

What success looks like

During your first full year, you will be expected to:

• Close approximately 30 paid, retained dealership rooftops.
• Build relationships with high-fit independent dealerships and regional groups of approximately 2–15 rooftops.
• Self-source the majority of your qualified pipeline.
• Convert dealership operating problems into narrowly scoped, 30-day paid pilots.
• Multi-thread opportunities across dealer principals, group operators, general managers, used-vehicle leaders, digital leaders, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Help Vehicle AI document a sales motion that another successful seller could eventually follow.
  

What you will do

• Build and execute named-account plans across phone, email, LinkedIn, referrals, industry relationships, and selected events.
• Lead dealership-native discovery focused on material operating problems, current processes, ownership, economic impact, and decision criteria.
• Demonstrate NEON using the prospect’s operating priorities rather than delivering a generic feature tour.
• Position NEON as a complement to the dealership’s DMS, CRM, inventory, market, and reporting systems.
• Structure paid pilots with an agreed workflow, participating rooftops, executive sponsor, manager owners, success measures, review cadence, and commercial decision date.
• Own opportunities from first conversation through contracting, payment, onboarding, and the initial retention milestone.
• Maintain accurate pipeline stages, next actions, stakeholders, risks, and forecasts.
• Bring structured market feedback to the founder and product team.
• Use evidence carefully: never invent customer results, ROI, integrations, implementation timing, or product capabilities.
  

Who will thrive here

You may be a strong fit if you have:

• At least three years of successful full-cycle B2B sales experience.
• Direct experience selling dealership technology, automotive SaaS, data products, or another operational product to automotive retailers.
• A demonstrated ability to create pipeline rather than relying primarily on inbound leads.
• A history of meeting or exceeding a measurable sales target.
• Fluency in how dealerships make decisions and how dealer principals, group executives, general managers, and departmental leaders evaluate new technology.
• The ability to translate a technical product into clear dealership operating language.
• Comfort working directly with a founder in an early-stage environment.
• Strong follow-through, commercial judgment, and CRM discipline.

We will also consider an exceptional former dealership operator who has led vendor selection or cross-store operating change and can demonstrate a genuine ability to prospect, sell, and close.

This role is probably not for you if

You want to manage a team immediately, depend on a large inbound pipeline, or prefer a mature sales organization with every process already defined. This role is for someone who enjoys creating the motion while carrying the number.

Your first 90 days

By approximately day 30, you will understand the product, target customer, commercial offer, approved messaging, and existing account universe.

By approximately day 60, you should have established a consistent prospecting rhythm, held at least 15 decision-maker conversations, and created five or more qualified opportunities.

By approximately day 90, the expected scorecard is:

• At least 25 held decision-maker conversations.
• Eight or more qualified opportunities.
• Three or more well-defined paid-pilot opportunities.
• One to three paid rooftops closed or entering onboarding.
• A credible pipeline supporting the first ten retained rooftops.

These goals will be calibrated to the agreed start date, market conditions, and ramp period.

Compensation

• Base salary of $85,000–$100,000, depending on experience.
• $90,000 target annual incentive.
• Expected OTE of $175,000–$190,000.
• Uncapped accelerators above the annual target.
• Meaningful equity for the right founding hire.
• Commission tied to collected and retained revenue, with a written compensation plan supplied before acceptance.